


I think I know you

by Skeleton_Keyes



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Angst, Bullying, Cas is shy, Crushes, Dean is very happy, Destiel - Freeform, Gay, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Pining, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Shyness
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-20
Updated: 2020-01-27
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:02:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21876337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skeleton_Keyes/pseuds/Skeleton_Keyes
Summary: Cas is a new student at Hunter University and today is orientation! Today is the day he's going to meet his new roommate..Wait a minute he looks kind of familiar? Oh..Oh no..
Relationships: Castiel & Dean Winchester, Castiel/Dean Winchester
Comments: 3
Kudos: 14





	1. I might need a new roommate..

**Author's Note:**

> There isn't a whole lot to this chapter but I wanted to just do a little introductory chapter before I get into the real meat of the story. I'm trying to do a little world building and establishing characters in a natural way so my apologies if its slow!

Shit shit shit shit shit shit 

Cas was frozen in the doorway of his new dorm room. He had a duffel bag slung over his shoulder, a suitcase on the ground next to him. His eyes were stuck on the man lying on the bed in front of him who looked up when he entered. A smile grew on his face, his eyes lit up. 

“Hey roomie!!” The man exclaimed, hopping up and walking to meet him in the doorway. “Hey.. I know you...Cal, right?” 

“Cas actually..” He murmured, his eyes darting to the floor. 

“Ah, damn, sorry about that man. Hey let me help you with your bags!” His new roommate reached for the suitcase underneath him and it was quickly snatched from his loose grip. 

“You’re Dean Winchester, Star quarterback, aren’t you?” Cas didn’t move from his spot, but his eyes slowly crept upwards to watch him. 

A cheesy grin spread across his face. “I see my reputation precedes me.” He nodded. “Yup! That’s me.” He turned around and walked over to the dresser that was pushed against the side wall. 

“How’d you end up here? I thought you’d be pursuing like.. sports or whatever.” Cas took a step forward and cocked his head a little.

“Well I was offered a sport scholarship but honestly I’m kinda sick of it. My dad was the one who wanted me to do it anyway, not me.” Dean shrugged, his back still turned. His voice got oddly somber, he stopped moving for a moment. “But now I’m doing what I actually like, I’m gonna be a cop!” His usual chipper tone had returned and he looked over his shoulder with a brightness in his eyes.

“Oh, that actually makes a lot of sense. You’re gonna make a great police officer.” Cas gave him a shy smile but quickly turned his face away. He took a seat on the bed and watched as Dean opened his suitcase and unpacked some of his things. 

“So what about you?” Dean asked, crouched on the ground over the suitcase. 

“Me? Oh well.. I’m actually studying archaeology and theology type stuff. Like ancient religions and artifacts.” His voice got quieter, he braced himself for the laughing fit he knew was coming. 

“Dude that’s so cool! You’re super smart so I can totally see that for you. You should be like a professor, like Indiana Jones or something.” Dean opened a draw above him and placed a stack of shirts inside. 

Cas’ cheeks felt warm. “Oh! Well um thank you. Most people thinks it’s stupid actually. Since I’m not actually planning on like.. going to dig up stuff.” He shrugged, pulling at the hem of his shirt. 

“That’s ok! Professors and smart kinds of people are important too. Everyone is, and everyone’s gotta do something. If it makes you happy, then I say it’s important.” 

Cas looked up at him, shocked that the person he expected to be some mindless meat head was actually quite wise, something he had never considered. “Yeah, I guess that makes sense.” He stood up and walked over to him, he paused, took a deep breath, and crouched down beside him, plopping his duffel bag next to him. “Thanks for helping me unpack.” 

“No problem! Plus, I like you, you were in my Geometry class I’m pretty sure, right?” 

Cas nodded, remembering all the days he spent watching dean work and thinking about how absolutely beautiful he was. 

“Oh yeah! You helped me with homework a lot, I remember.” 

“Oh yeah, I didn’t mind though.” Cas shrugged, trying to act like it wasn’t nerve racking every time Dean would ask him a question.

“You’re a good guy, Cas. You’re like the only one who’d help me. My nerd brother wouldn’t even help me out, he used to be kind of a dick.” Dean chuckled, shaking his head.

“You have a brother? I do too!” The shorter man smiled brightly, latching on to the one thing he knew they had in common.

“Yup! Sam, well, I call him Sammy, but he hates it so I’d just stick to Sam if I were you.” Dean winked, giving his shoulder a friendly slap.

Cas blushed, quickly looking down at the open luggage beneath them. “My brothers name is Gabriel, he actually already went here so you might know him. I think he’s in your class.” 

Dean tapped his chin, his brow furrowing. “Hmmm..Gabriel..” he snapped his fingers “Aha! Yeah I know him, I didn’t recognize the name at first because we call him Gabe. He’s on my debate team!” 

“You..you do debate??” Cas looked back up at him, shocked. 

“Mhm! It’s really fun actually, you should try it!”

He immediately felt guilty for underestimating him, he felt heat rise in my neck. “I guess I never took you for that kind of guy.” he scratched the back of his head.

“Honestly? I didn’t either till I met Gabe on my first day last year. He showed me around, he was my first friend here. After about a week he had be convinced to join the team and it’s probably the best decision I made.” Dean closed the drawer he had previously opened and stood up, stretching his back.

Cas followed him, shaking his leg out a bit. “Well..I’m not too sure..Gabriel and I don’t get along the best so it might not go over well if I joined.” he let out an awkward chuckle to try and ease the obvious tension.

“Well that’s okay, I kinda get that. Sam would have a fit if I joined any of his nerdy little clubs. And to be honest I don’t know if I’d like him joining debate too much. But hey! There’s tons of other stuff for us to do! I can show you around if you like? Maybe we’ll find something for you to do.” Dean stepped over the suitcase and made his way to the door. He gestured to the open door and took a shallow bow. “After you, sir.” he smiled.

“O-Oh! Thank you.” Cas scurried out of the door, keeping his head down.


	2. Chapter 2: Get away

Static filled his brain as he carefully watched the moving lips of the man beside him. He told himself countless times to focus, to remember, to actually comprehend what he was being told, but no matter how much he tried it was useless.

Suddenly, he was snapped back to reality when a hand quickly grabbed his. 

“Come on! I want to show you something!” Dean exclaimed, dragging him off the path.

Cas stumbled along beside him, blinking hard and trying not to let that haze cloud his mind again. Dean abruptly stopped and Cas clumsily bumped into him. 

“O-Oh my gosh I’m so sorry.” he muttered, recoiling and taking an instinctive step backwards. Running into one to many bullies in the four years of highschool prior can instill you with a reflex like that. He braced himself, ready to be hit, yelled at, pushed, spit on, or whatever else was coming his way.

“It’s no problem, dude, don’t worry about it.” Dean looked over his shoulder and noticed how Cas was hunched over, eyes closed, arms tense at his sides. “Woah, hey are you okay?” he stepped towards him, his voice gentle and soft.

Cas took another step back reflexively. “Y-yes I just um, I’m sorry for bumping into you, I’ll just leave you alone.” his voice started to shake, he was speaking at almost a whisper.

Dean grabbed his shoulders as tenderly as he could manage. “Cas, open your eyes. Look at me, bud, it’s okay.” he fell into the paternal comforting voice that he had used so many times before.

Cas blinked his eyes open, his body still clenched. 

“Breathe, take a deep breath.” Dean whispered, his eyes warm and kind.

He nodded, taking in some shallow, shaking breaths.

“Hey, hey, breath with me.” Dean rubbed his arm. He demonstrated by inhaling slowly and deeply, holding it for a moment, and softly letting it out.

Cas followed his movements, gradually relaxing his body. “I think I’m okay now.” he said clearly.

“What happened?” Dean didn’t let go of him, instead he opted to continue rubbing his shoulders.

“Well..I’m not sure if you knew this, but a lot of the guys you were friends with used to bully me and my friends. They called me names, beat me up, took my things, spit on me, and..” he squeezed his eyes shut, shaking his head frantically.

“Hey, it’s okay, you don’t need to tell me. I’m sorry they did that to you, I kinda stopped talking to them towards the end of senior year. They were real assholes, probably still are. But you don’t have to worry about them now.” Dean wrapped his arms around him in a warm embrace. He rubbed circles on his back in an effort to keep him calm.

Cas felt himself melt in his muscled arms, leaning against him. He made a futile attempt at willing back the burning tears behind his eyes, but they steadily streamed down his face. His body wracked with sobs as he clutched the front of Dean’s shirt. He couldn’t remember the last time someone actually hugged him. He’d been holding it in for so long, he didn’t want to be seen as weak, but with Dean he felt safe, he felt protected. 

“I’m s-sorry I didn’t..” he meekly pushed away, but Deans firm grasped remained holding him to his chest.

“Let it out, Cassy. It’s okay, I can tell you really need it.” Dean cooed, now petting the back of his head reassuringly. 

“I-” was all he was able to choke out before he was overcome and he started to violently weep into his chest once more.

“It’s okay, Cas. I’m here for you.” 

Dean’s warm arms and steady heart grounded him. His easy breaths, his soothing voice, his comforting words, everything about him made Cas feel better. His tears gradually slowed, he sniffled, not really wanting to move, so they didn’t. They stayed like that for a few moments, Cas in Dean’s arms.

After a little while Dean pulled back, but didn’t leave too much space between them. “You okay?” he asked him, his eyes concerned like that of a mothers.

Cas nodded, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. “Mhm, I’m sorry for doing that. I don’t know what got into me.” he nervously chuckled.

“Hey, don’t ever apologize for feeling things. I’m just glad I was here, you shouldn’t have to go through that alone.” Dean flashed him a soft smile. 

“How did you know how to do all that?” Cas asked him, tilting his head a little bit. He appreciated what he did but he got the impression that this wasn’t his first time trying to calm someone down from something like that.

“My brother..Well he used to have nightmares a lot. And with the death of our mom..He’s had a hard time, lets just say that. My dad wasn’t around a lot of the time so I ended up having to be there for him whenever he needed it. I picked up a thing or two, so now it’s just a reflex, I suppose.” Dean shrugged nonchalantly. 

“Dean..that’s..You’re a really good brother. My brother wouldn’t so much as look at me if I did that around him. He’d probably just tell me to be quiet and leave the room.” his eyes fell, a sad sight escaping him.

“Hey, I’ll be here for you..And I know this doesn’t make it okay, but Gabe has a lot of stuff on his mind. He knows he hasn’t been the best brother to you, I’ve heard him talk about you. He’s trying to get better, I promise you.”

“Really?” Cas looked up at him, wanting so badly to believe him.

“Really.” Dean smiled and squeezed his shoulders.

He grabbed his hand, intertwining their fingers. “ Now come on, I wanna show you something, this time I’ll walk a little slower.” he teased, smirking.

Cas’ face burned, his face a bright shade of red. “That sounds good to me.”

Dean led him to the edge of the campus that was mostly trees and bushes. “Through here.” he said, looking over at his companion and jerking his head to the side. 

Cas was surprised to find that the woods were not as dense as he thought it was, the foliage made it appear much thicker than it was. Their footsteps crunched against the dried leaves scattered about the ground. Not before long, they were past the trees and were met with a breathtaking sight.

A crystalline lake sat calm, and peaceful. The reflection of the sun was as clear as day in it’s still waters. Cas was stunned, his eyes were wide with shock and excitement. 

“This is my favorite spot to go when I need to get away.” Dean said, motioning towards a blanket and a small radio on the ground. He lead him over to the spot underneath a large tree that hung over the lake and sat down, letting go of his hand.

Cas sat next to him, wanting to get closer but deciding the risk wasn’t worth it. He gazed out over the lake and watched as birds flew over head. The sound of the campus was practically gone even though he knew that it wasn’t that far behind him.

“Dean this is..amazing.” he sighed, shifting his gaze to the boy beside him.

“Yeah lots of kids come here to like make out and stuff, but I like just hanging out here. It’s really calming. “ he smiled at him and Cas felt butterflies start making their home in his stomach. He shivered, tearing his eyes away from him and looking back out at the lake. He never wanted to forget this moment.

“Hey, are you cold?” Dean shouldered off his varsity jacket and draped it over Cas’ shoulders, scooting closer to him.

“W-What? Oh I uh..” he trailed off, suddenly aware of just how close he was. “Thanks Dean.” he mumbled, wrapping the jacket tighter around him. 

Dean yawned, stretching his arms above him. He glanced over at Cas, who wasn’t looking at him and slowly lowered the arm closest to him around his shoulders.

Cas blinked, confused. _Did he just-_ _He didn’t really just do that, did he?_ He turned his head slightly, hoping that it wasn’t too noticable and looked at him. He took a deep breath and decided to take a risk and scooted closer to him, resting his head in the crook of his neck. “You’re a really good guy Dean.” he whispered.

“Thank you Cas, I’m really glad you think that..” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think of it!!

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know if you have any ideas for the next chapter! If you'd like me to include anything, you want certain characters, you have headcanons that might work for the story, etc. 
> 
> Any feedback helps!!


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